The act of deliberately inflicting harm on ones own body without suicidal intent or plans of bodily modification (eg. piercing your ears isn't self-injury). Typically self-injury is practiced to block mental pain with physical pain, or to provide the self-injurer with something that they can feel if they are emotionally numb. Common forms of self-injury include cutting with a sharp object such as a razor or a knife, burning (with an open flame, chemicals, a heated object (technically, this is branding, not burning), or friction from rubbing with an object such as a pencil erasor), scratching or scraping, and hitting (whether with ones own hands or another object).

Although it is sometimes misinterpreted as a suicide attempt, self-injury is actually a coping mechanism used to deal with powerful negative feelings and prevent suicide.

The act of deliberately inflicting pain upon ones self without means to commit suicide. This can be done in a variety of ways both conscious and sub conscious. Self - injury (or self harming as it is also known) is done mainly to relieve emotional pain, like to release a pressure building up inside a person, and they feel they can't communicate efficiently enough to relive the pressure and resort to harming themselves to relive it. It can also be done as a sub conscious or even conscious attempt at seeking attention. This may be because the sufferer feels lonely or depressed.
Self-injury may also be a result of a tension or stress building up on a person who may relieve this stress by biting nails or pulling hair etc. Small, everyday habits.
Self-harm is commonest in young teenage girls. There are MASSIVE amounts of peer pressure on these girls now from friends, family and the media obsession with 'perfect people' It is not just a problem with teenage girls however, it is found in teenage boys, adults and elderly. The national statistics are 1/10 people self harm at one point in their life. Self-harming can include:

-Cutting/ scratching (any part of the body)- scratching can be subconscious

-Burning (can be done with a flame or friction burn. For example of friction burn, rubbing oneself with a pencil rubber until a burn is made)

-Poisoning

-Biting (biting lips and fingernails can be subconscious but biting skin is more of a conscious decision)

-Pulling out hair (Trichotillomania) - this can be subconscious

-Exposing self to heat and cold extremes

-Even piercing oneself several times, for the pleasure of the pain, not for the beautification.

Self harming can be taken too far and if you self harm, its a good idea to keep a first aid box nearby, and keep the object you are using as clean as possible.
Self-harm can lead to loss of limbs etc due to gangrene and infection and accidental death. People who self harm are statistically also more likely to commit suicide.....

Reasons for self-injury
- self hatred
- Loneliness
- Unable to communicate efficiently to others to relieve mental pain
- emptiness
- depression
- sub concious attention seeking (feeling of wanting to be loved)
- Emotional numbness (hurts self so one can check they can still feel)
- Intense anger to the world
- feeling of helplessness
- tension / stress
- feelings of being out of control of ones life
- check out self mutilation

The act of deliberately inflicting pain upon ones self without means to commit suicide. This can be done in a variety of ways both conscious and sub conscious. Self - injury (or self harming as it is also known) is done mainly to relieve emotional pain, like to release a pressure building up inside a person, and they feel they can't communicate efficiently enough to relive the pressure and resort to harming themselves to relive it. It can also be done as a sub conscious or even conscious attempt at seeking attention. This may be because the sufferer feels lonely or depressed.
Self-injury may also be a result of a tension or stress building up on a person who may relieve this stress by biting nails or pulling hair etc. Small, everyday habits.
Self-harm is commonest in young teenage girls. There are MASSIVE amounts of peer pressure on these girls now from friends, family and the media obsession with 'perfect people' It is not just a problem with teenage girls however, it is found in teenage boys, adults and elderly. The national statistics are 1/10 people self harm at one point in their life. Self-harming can include:
-Cutting/ scratching (any part of the body)- scratching can be subconscious
-Burning (can be done with a flame or friction burn. For example of friction burn, rubbing oneself with a pencil rubber until a burn is made)
-Poisoning
-Biting (biting lips and fingernails can be subconscious but biting skin is more of a conscious decision)
-Pulling out hair (Trichotillomania) - this can be subconscious
-Exposing self to heat and cold extremes
-Even piercing oneself several times, for the pleasure of the pain, not for the beautification.
Self harming can be taken too far and if you self harm, its a good idea to keep a first aid box nearby, and keep the object you are using as clean as possible.
Self-harm can lead to loss of limbs etc due to gangrene and infection and accidental death. People who self harm are statistically also more likely to commit suicide.

(see other self-injury definitions.) Commonly abbrieviated as SI. The term "cutter" is sometimes used to define a self-injurer, even though they may injure themselves in other ways. Please note that pulling out hair (Trichotillomania) is NOT self-injury. This is a disorder, common to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). In addition, piercing yourself for the pleasure of pain is masochistic and is not usually connected to self-injury. Self-injury and masochism are different things.

Wendy claimed she scratched her arm on a rose bush, but I knew that she was a victim of self-injury.

(1)To harm youself in a way to rid yourself from the pain you may suffer. To cut, bite,hit,and rub are acts of self-injury.(2) To harm yourself in a way to hid from the pain you may suffer inside(mental pain)